Clean Break
by Scented-Marker-Sniffer
Summary: The sooner he was out the door and gone forever, the cleaner the break would be. (For Fathers' Day.)


**Just a quick, slightly late Fathers' Day fic: also known as Hey, What's the Significance of Sora's Crown Necklace, Anyway?**

**Reviews are appreciated but certainly not required. Thanks for visiting and please enjoy!**

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The man stood in the darkness of the entryway of his home, the dim light from the streetlights outside the only thing illuminating his tense features. He shouldn't be doing this, but he was. He should be reconsidering his actions, but he wasn't. The entire island would denounce his name, but somehow, he didn't care, and the sound of his bag's zipper, deafening in the silence and ringing with a tone of finality, only highlighted that.

He was ready. This would be a nice, clean break: no tearful interrogations, no scathing remarks, no fighting. This was the best way.

His hand was on the doorknob. This was it, this—

"Daddy?"

The man jolted, before quickly masking his swirling emotions and dubious intentions with a smile as he turned to the five-year-old. "Hey sport. What are you doing out of bed?"

His eyes, long adjusted to the very early morning darkness, were easily able to make out the child's features in the gloom. The boy squinted at him, his mussed spikes and giant t-shirt the evidence of an interrupted sleep. "What're you doing?" he asked, little voice hoarse, struggling to rub sleep from his eyes.

The man sighed heavily, having already prepared (or _tried_ to prepare) answers for a situation like this. But when he was actually confronted with the one person in the world that might make him reconsider his decision, the man fumbled. "I'm… going away for a bit."

The child nodded, like he understood the implications behind the statement, though the man knew he didn't. "Is Mommy going with you?"

He swallowed painfully. "No."

"Oh." The boy was quiet for a moment, and the man waited, increasingly anxious, for the next question—knowing the child's nature, there would probably be a couple. He prayed the boy's voice wouldn't rouse his wife, because if she woke and saw him… he shuddered vaguely at the thought.

"How long will you be gone?"

A couple weeks. A couple years. Forever. "I don't know."

The child seemed to accept this answer, calmly wiping his nose on his sleeve. "Where are you going?"

"Away. Please, bud, go back to bed. You shouldn't be up this late."

The boy frowned then, and pleaded tremulously, "But I wanna know when you'll be back."

The man stared at the boy helplessly, unsure of what to say. A wrong answer would threaten noisy tears for sure. So instead of answering the child, he planted one hand on his hip, smiled brightly, and declared with as much enthusiasm as he could muster, "Bud, I've got a job for you."

It worked. The boy stared up at him eagerly now, previous questions and trembling lip completely forgotten. "What is it? Tell me! Come on, Daddy. Tell me!" He began to bounce in an excited circle, spikes flopping in time to his movement.

Restraining a chuckle, the man pulled off his necklace, a silver crown pendant around a chain, and dropped it over the child's neck. The sudden weight made the boy's head bend forward and forced a small stumble, but this was soon overshadowed by the child's apparent awe in the jewelry. He picked up the crown charm, holding it with both little hands and gaping at it wide-eyed, before looking up at the man. "Daddy…?"

"I want you to keep that safe for me. Don't lose it. Okay?"

The child saluted him, grinning. "Okay!"

The man nodded in approval before pulling the child into a quick, tight hug, which the boy confusedly returned. "And one more thing: stay with your mother. You're the man of the house now, got it? You have to be strong, for her and you. No tears." The boy looked at him, expression bewildered, and then man racked his brain for something the child would understand. "It's like… It's like this house is a castle, and you're a knight, and Mommy, she's a queen. You've gotta keep the queen safe, right? That's your duty, and you've gotta do it, right?"

The boy nodded quickly, rapt. "Right! Right! I'll keep Mommy safe from the bad guys! I'll fight 'em off!" He shook his new jewelry. "And your crown thingy! I'll keep it safe too, till you get back!"

"That's right. I know you'll make me proud, sport." The man bit his lip. It was getting late. He had to leave. "Well, I need to be on my way, okay? Love you."

Cheerful, mind still stuck in a land of castles and knights in shining armor, the boy waved. "Okay, bye Daddy! I'll see you soon!"

The man ruffled the boy's hair before picking up his bag, unlocking the door and closing it behind him as quietly as he could with one last wave. He left the key at the door; he wouldn't need it. _A nice, clean break. _

Inside, the child smiled widely at the door before skipping back to bed, ogling his shiny new necklace the whole way and imagining himself with a sword. He'd protect his mom and the necklace; he could do it, for as long as he needed to. Until Daddy came home.

Every day for the rest of his life, Sora kept the necklace safe for a father he would never see again.


End file.
